One for Sorrow
by Vixen Smith
Summary: What if Sam and Dean failed to prevent the Apocalypse?Well,what if Castiel didn't save Dean from Hell in the first place?This is the story of Alice. Crappy summery...better one in my bio! Please read the better one! ALSO READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!
1. notice

Dear Readers,

Well, I'll just start off by saying that Supernatural makes my life. Especially Dean and Cas. 3 I love those two to pieces…  
>But FYI—I AM NOT A RELIGIOUS PERSON. So if I get some of this religion stuff wrong, please excuse me! I am trying. But yeah, this is mainly just for kicks…no right-on-the-dot religion stuff. So yes, I apologize if some of it's wrong or whatever…just bear with me and enjoy the story! REVIEWS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.<p>

Thanks!

~Vicky


	2. Chapter 1

Night enveloped the city. The sun's dying rays cast a brilliant orange glow over the lake, which looked endless due to the lack of light. She stood looking out over the water, a faraway expression on her face. She watched as stars began to appear, shimmering with a celestial light that reminded her of her family, of her lover…of her home. A sense of homesickness tugged at her heart. For too long had she been separated from those she loved, but that was all about to change. God worked in mysterious ways—of this she was certain. He was the only one who had the capability to create the stars themselves, the galaxies, the planets, and life as she knew it. But this time, it was different. Rumors stated He was dead, some contradicted, but she knew the truth. Wherever He was, whatever He was doing, He needed her help. So this task, the most important task in a mellenia, He left to her.

A slight breeze lifted her shoulder length black hair, notifying her she was no longer alone. There was a slight burning warmth in the air for a mere moment, then nothing. She turned to see her sister pick her way through the rubble that littered the ground. The taller woman stopped a little ways away from her.

" Jade," the newcomer murmured as a salutation.

" Brandi," Jade answered, "it's good to see you again."

" It has been long," Brandi agreed.

The women exchanged brief smiles before two other women emerged from the growing darkness.

" Jade, Brandi. It has been too long," one stated with a smile playing on her lips.

" Kathleen and I have been looking for you," the other began, " We thought we were in the wrong place when we got here."

" I understand. Everywhere I've been I have not recognized. Every city has been reduce to piles of rock," Jade replied.

" Have you seen any of the others?" Brandi inquired.

" No, neither of us have," the woman answered, pulling her long, dirty blonde hair into a ponytail.

" Holly and I have search everywhere for any trace of somebody. We found nothing," Kathleen continued.

Jade nodded silently to herself. The sisters were silent for a moment.

" Then it is apparent we of the North are the only family group that has been reunited."

Holly nodded in acknowledgment.

" In that case, we will wait for their arrivals."

Erin and the Easterners held themselves with pride when they entered what was left of the boatyard. Jade had watched their arrival. Raina had given away all hopes of a surprise appearance. Thick cloud coverage had rolled in as soon as she teleported with her own sisters to the meeting place—Jade read the sign immediately. The four from the East all wore gowns, like she and her own sisters did, that flowed despite there being no breeze. Had there been any humans left to witness, they would have mistook them for angels. Which, in spite of fact, they were. But they were enhanced, special. All eight women present were born with a purpose. In all, there were sixteen of them—four from each direction. Higher than the archangels themselves, they were like goddesses. They were present at the birth of the Earth itself; they were the ones who made everything complete. Jade herself was the goddess of the Northern wind—thought of as the family leader, though not as powerful as the others. Erin was similarly the goddess of the Eastern wind, although the two had no relation. Each of their sisters were also goddesses—Brandi, the goddess of fire, Holly, the goddess of space, and Kathleen, goddess of day. Erin had found her sisters as well—Coralynn, the moon goddess, Amy, the goddess of the Earth, and Raina, the goddess of weather. The sisters of the South and West were yet to arrive. Jade wondered if Blaze and Jace had managed to find eachother yet. As much as she did not wish to see them, Jade willed them to hurry. Because they sixteen women were not all family, there were, of course, enemies within the groups. But differences must be set aside at times.

Erin led her sisters into what used to be a flag circle overlooking the boatyard. No one spoke, although there were no enemies present here yet. The North and the East were allies, and the South and the West were allies. Jade wondered again how long it would take for the others to come.

The morning sunrise announced the arrival of the Southerners and those from the West. They came scattered, but together. First, the goddess of the South wind, Blaze, and her sister Cassiopia, goddess of water, arrived with cold looks towards the others. The Western goddesses of the sun, Ivy, and of air, Zoey, followed closely behind. Southern goddess of time, Alice, teleported herself inside the crumbling remains of the building next to where the others congregated. Having the joint power of darkness, she could not stand to be in sunlight for too long. She stood staring out of the dark with her arms crossed, barely visible to those outside. Silently, her sister Lily, goddess of the night, joined her.

After three more long hours of silence, the Western goddess of the wind, Jace, and her final sister, Rose, goddess of electricity, joined them. Finally, finally, they were all here.

They waited until dark to begin. As twilight faded into dusk, Alice stepped out into the fresh air. Lily came as far as the edge of the shadows that had concealed them both, but no further. As she walked towards the Winds, other women gravitated towards what little pieces of bench still stood. Hostile glances were thrown at one another. Alice refused to throw herself into the mix. Of course, until she caught sight of Holly. Each of the women had opposites, and Holly was hers. Holly threw her a dirty look before turning up her nose and sitting down next to Brandi. Alice sat across from her, alone. Lily would join her when it was darker.

She gazed out at the cool waters of the lake rather than at her fellows. The dying sunbeams reflected off the water like shards of diamond, and, although beautiful, it hurt her eyes, but distant mountains helped to shield her. She stared for several moments, trying to clear her head of what she had just witnessed. The sound of Jade's voice dragged her attention back to the group.

" It is time to begin our meeting. As we all know, the planet Earth has been degraded to a pile of rock and ash. Mankind has witnessed the end of its time."

She paused. No one replied.

" It is obvious that humans were to be the master race—it was never initially planned that they were to be destroyed. However, a series of events have led to the Apocalypse," she continued.

" Evidently," Alice muttered under her breath.

Jade had heard her, her eyes flickering to the younger woman for a moment, prompting Blaze to cast a solemn warning glance in her direction.

" Some one needs to rebuild the planet's cities, it's people, and restore balance. This task has been left to me. I have called upon you all to help me fix a broken world," Jade looked fleetingly at her sisters.

" What makes you think it is our job to fix this place?" Amy asked.

Jade turned to face her fully. " I have been given orders," was her reply.

" And who, exactly, are the orders from?" Alice spoke up.

She respected, even liked, Jade, even though the North clan and the South clan were enemies. However, that didn't reframe her from questioning the leader's authority.

Jade held her gaze evenly and replied silkily,

" God."

An uneasy silence settled over the group. Rarely did they hear from Him, although they were born from nothingness as the universe was created by His hands. He was not their father, for they had no parents and were not intentionally created. They were just byproducts of His creations, each able to represent and administer a power and an affinity.

" Right," Coralynn broke the silence, " what do we need to do?"

" We wait until midnight, then we begin the restoration."

True to her word, Jade began the ritual at midnight. Lily had joined them outdoors under a clear sky dotted with stars and a small sliver of a moon. Jade had quickly explained what was to be done. Now, all sixteen women stood in a large circle under her command. Jade tossed thick black strands of hair over her shoulder, reveling more of her delicate features.

" Join hands," she instructed after taking her place at the northernmost point of the circle.

Reluctantly, the women moved to take eachother's hands—opposites joined with eachother to create balance.

" Concentrate on your powers. When everyone is thinking of only her own, we will be set to rewrite history."

Alice huffed and closed her eyes softly and thought about time. Just the concept, nothing more and nothing less. A sharp burning sensation creeped from where her hand met Holly's and up her arm. She dared to open her eyes long enough to see what was happening. To her shock, a thick rope of pitch-black smoke had wound its way from her hand up to her shoulder. The same line spiraled across to Holly, who also had opened her eyes, and crept up her arm similarly. Where the two's skin touched, the strange smoke flickered in colour, changing from black to a vivid white. The white continued, unchanged, up to her enemy's shoulder. Alice knew Holly had concentrated on her power over space. Thus, they were opposites—Space to Time, and their affinities, Light to Darkness.

Glancing across the circle, the same smoke ran up and down the arms of the others, too. Brandi and Cassiopia had been joined by smoke dancing between a fiery red and a deep blue, the product of fire meeting water. Coralynn and Ivy held hands, their smoke a shimmering silver and bright yellow—moon meets sun. Kathleen and Lily's was a similar washed-out yellow and midnight blue—day and night. Amy's eyes were closed tight, a feature of ignorance etched across her face and gripping Zoey's hand just as tight with a soft green colour beginning to snake its way up her arm, fading eventually to a light gray—earth and air. Rose and Raina had put aside their differences long enough to stare in wonder at their smoke—an electric yellow representing Rose's affinity for electricity merging with a dark blue-gray colour representing Raina's control over weather. An electric blue colour wove its way around every body, thus joining them all.

The burning sensation intensified until Alice was certain she was on fire. She could feel it down to her very soul, burning her up from the inside out. If she had the strength she would have screamed. She gritted her teeth against the pain.

" Don't lose your concentration!" Alice had no idea how Erin had managed to scream out all four words.

Again, Alice focused on time. It only proved to intensify the pain. She squeezed her eyes shut and bit her tongue as a splitting headache exploded through her head. The memories came rushing back.

Faces flashed across her eyes. The tormented faces of the vessels of Michael and Lucifer, who, as far as she knew, had been brothers. People panicking as the first blast wave hit, mothers trying to no avail to keep their children safe. Entire cities and national monuments from across the globe all crashing to the ground. Sobbing people trying to pull loved ones from the still-falling rubble, mourning over their losses in the midst of chaos.

All these images and more screamed through her mind. And then the feeling of guilt weighed heavily on her heart. She remembered distinctly watching from her place in heaven, cold and indifferent to the suffering she was observing, then suddenly feeling the wrong in the horror, yet doing nothing.

She was breathing hard, a single tear leaking down her cheek. She felt the vibrations of Holly's breathing echo up her arm. On her other side, Rose's hand was beginning to get sweaty.

Then, all of a sudden, the sensation was gone entirely. Panting, Alice opened her eyes, disconnecting herself from Rose long enough to hastily wipe away the tear. Looking over to her right, her eyes met Holly's. A look of desperation and fear twinkled in them, and she was sure it must have been mirrored in hers.

She looked away to look in wonder at the world they had restored.

The buildings were all in one piece; the air and ground were both clean. Compared to what the world had been degraded to, this was beautiful. The stars in the sky were brighter; the water in the lake glistened in the moon's rays. A slight breeze picked up and rushed the smell of an untouched world to her nose. It had taken hours to restore the whole planet, although it felt like only mere minutes. Once again the sun climbed over the horizon. There was no sunrise, but had the air been full of pollutants it would have been a fantastic display of vibrant oranges, pinks and blues. Zoey took a deep breath and smiled.

"We cleaned up the air pretty well," she sighed as the circle disconnected.

Lily pulled Alice gently back to the boating classroom they had taken refuge in from the light the day before.

" What time is it?" Lily whispered to her sister.

" Eight thirty in the morning," Alice answered automatically.

Lily was taken aback. " It took that long?"

Alice nodded. " We had to restore an entire _planet,_" she laughed suddenly, " No big yank."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh, no, not at all."

Blaze joined them in the shadows. She spoke with a quiet voice filled with sweetness with a certain edge to it.

"We have to go home now. We'll stick together once we get back, all right? No running off this time."

"Of course," Lily answered with a sweet smile.

Blaze smiled back, "Wouldn't want to make a habit of it."

When she left, Alice turned to Lily and smirked. Lily snorted back laughter as they teleported back to heaven.


	3. Chapter 2

One year later…

Alice awoke with a start when a knock sounded on her door. Groaning, she rolled out of bed and padded barefoot across the floor of her room. _Apparently privacy is unheard of even in Heaven, _she thought ruefully. Sighing quietly, she opened the heavy wooden door a crack and peered out, not fully registering who stood at her door.

"Yes?" she asked, trying hard to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"Alice," her visitor addressed her seriously, "I am in need of your assistance."

Groggily, Alice examined her visitor.

"Oh my _goodness,_ Jade!" she gasped in final recognition, "I'm sorry, if I had-"

"Not now, Alice," Jade cut her short, " We have much more pressing matters to attend to."

Not five minutes later, Alice and Jade were walking quietly through the peaceful realm of Heaven. After a long silence, Jade sighed. Alice sensed an air of defeat wash over her companion.

"Why do you need me?" Alice asked, keeping her voice low.

"Because," Jade answered after a moment, "I have failed our Father."

Alice cocked a thin eyebrow in curiosity and confusion. "I don't understand…"

Jade inhaled deeply and stared thoughtfully down at the ground as they walked. It was as if she knew what she wanted to say but failed to find suitable words.

"Well, of course you remember when we rebuilt the Earth and its society and people…"

Alice nodded slowly to herself, "Yes."

Jade turned her deep brown eyes on her. "Take a look at what we have created."

Alice hesitated before closing her eyes and redirecting her mind down to the Earth below her. At first, nothing seemed unusual. It was all simple human life.

"Look closer," Jade whispered softly, as if sensing her confusion.

Once she concentrated, images flew through Alice's mind. They were horrifying—shocking her with sin and cannibalism, among other appalling deeds. Once she could see it, there was no missing anything. All she could see was blood and disembodied parts, all she could feel was the sorrows and hatred of the humans; all she could hear was sick screeches of delight and blood spattering across the ground. Unable to bear the gruesome acts any longer, Alice opened here eyes and faced Jade once more. Suddenly feeling the weight of dread tugging at her heart, she opened her mouth to say something but found no words came out. Reluctantly, she closed it and looked away.

Jade's tone was sympathetic, "I know. It's too terrible for words."

"What have we done?" Alice asked, mostly to herself.

"Created a living Hell," Jade replied, "Now, to get to the point. We need to fix this," she gestured towards the maddening planet.

Alice bit her lip, " What do I need to do?"

"I need you to set things straight for me."

Alice felt a wave of apprehension. "Why me? I can offer little to the humans. Why can't you get Ivy or some one to do it?"

"Ivy is dead," Jade replied flatly.

Alice was taken aback, "I _beg _your pardon?"

Jade slumped ever so slightly. "Many of our sisterhood…have passed beyond Heaven and Hell. We cannot find them, cannot feel their presences anywhere…they have simply dropped off the radar…" she trailed off, her voice laced with sadness.

"Who has fallen?" Alice inquired, fearful now of learning who she unknowingly lost.

The taller woman took another deep breath. " Raina, Rose, Blaze, Erin, Brandi, Coralynn, and Ivy. Nine are left."

Alice groped for something to balance on. Blaze…her sister…. dead. Was it possible? It couldn't be. Desperately she searched for her sister's presence somewhere, anywhere…but found nothing. _Nine are left…the nine Muses…can this be coincidence?_

"Alice," Jade's authoritative voice brought her back, "Focus. I need you."

Alice nodded to signify that she understood.

"You are the goddess of time. You write the futures of the humans. Only you can fix this mess."

It was true—Alice was a future-seer. Many of the sisterhood had a small gift of foresight, but Alice was either blessed or cursed (depending on how one looks at it) to write the future of God's universe forever. Nearly everyone's fate lay in her hands, the outlines of their futures written neatly on thousands upon thousands of organized documents. There were few whose documents were not in her possession—whose they were, she had no idea.

Turning back to Jade, Alice cried in despair, "I swear I didn't write any of that! I wrote it the way it was before the Apocalypse! Please, you must believe me!"

Jade offered an uneasy smile. "Be calm. I know you did not mean for this to happen. Corruption easily takes hold among humans. All I need is for you to travel back to before Michael and Lucifer fought and prevent this all from happening. Find the angel Castiel. Tell him this…" 


End file.
